Kazakhstan statue removed after it appears 19th century intellectuals are taking a selfie

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Officials in the Kazakh city of Ust-Kamenogorsk have removed a statue… because the figures depicted appear to be taking a selfie.

The BBC reports that it featured 19th century thinkers Abay Kunanbayev, a local writer and thinker, and Yevgeny Mikhaelis, a Russian scientist and pro-democracy activist. Historians are unable to confirm if their pair ever even owned smartphones.

Apparently the statue was rushed to completion, which is what has led to the phone-like appearance. Judging from the podium with a pile of books next to them, we’d guess the intention was to originally make it look like a book.

Remarkably, this isn’t the first social-media themed statue. For hundreds of years Italy’s most famous monument has been Michelangelo’s David, which as we all know features a man posing for a Snapchat photo.